


Buffy the...Bacchae Slayer?

by LittleRaven



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 12:34:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20275990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRaven/pseuds/LittleRaven
Summary: Xena's apocryphal adventure.





	Buffy the...Bacchae Slayer?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).

From the Xena Compendium: Tales of the Warrior Princess

Of the many stories concerning Xena, warrior princess, and her battling bard Gabrielle, which have circulated the ancient world and survived history intact in scrolls, none are considered more than distant embellishments of the figures who originally inspired them, if indeed those figures ever existed—and some have been deemed more false than others. Most of the stories are told in the voice of Gabrielle, who claims to have appointed herself to the task despite the reluctance she describes on the part of Xena, in order to accomplish her goals of learning from the warrior and becoming a master poet. There are some, however, that are not, which is no wonder; if Xena traveled across the world, there would be more than one bard taking advantage of the opportunity. The majority of the stories, or their traces, outside of the Xena Scrolls—as Gabrielle’s narrative has been called—were passed down through oral storytelling long before they were recorded in writing, but there is one text significant in the fact that its age is comparable to that of the Xena Scrolls. It has been dated back to the same era, and the story may in fact have been recorded at the same time. The story it tells does not appear in the Xena Scrolls, though it bears some similarities to the tale of Bacchus. It also does not include Gabrielle as a co-protagonist, though it seems to occur during the time in which they are supposed to have traveled together; instead there is a new figure who does not appear in any other narrative related to Xena, and bears some similarities to a “Slayer” figure found in folklore from around the world. We have to wonder if Gabrielle was the one recording this story too, and if so, what she might have thought of it. Here is a fragment of this story out here for our readers, as plainly as we are able while remaining faithful to the original. 

\- April Faustus and Gabriel Thomas

She looked like Gabrielle. The color of her hair, her size; they were just different enough not to be her. Xena shook off the thought. This was no time to be distracted. People were going missing--men, women, children. The girl could become one of them, if she wasn't careful. Xena knew size could be deceiving, and she could tell from a look that this would be one of those times. The eyes, the set of her mouth--they spoke of someone who took action. 

Xena would just need to determine what kind of action that was. There were more things that walked the world besides monsters and naive girls; she intended to discover where this one fell in the spectrum. She fell in beside her on the path towards the forest. 

The girl didn't show any sign of having noticed her approach, but Xena could read no surprise on her face when she turned to speak. The only change in her expression was a raised eyebrow. 

"You're the only one who volunteered. Surprisingly brave from someone from around here."

"I'm not," Xena responded. "Neither are you."

"Yep," she confirmed cheerily. "Good guess." She looked down at her clothes. Xena couldn’t be sure of the material, but it looked a far cry from the dark leathers most fighters tended to wear, or something sewn by a local peasant. "Not that I was going for camouflage."

"Smarter than I thought, huh." 

She was pleased to note the lack of offense taken at her bait. Whatever flaws this young woman might turn out to have, a lack of composure wasn't one of them. It fit the impression Xena had gotten of her as they'd listened to gossip about the disappearances. She wondered how that impression would hold up under stronger testing, once they got into the thick of the issue, and hoped it would. The world could do with more good people who saw a problem and set out to solve it. 

The little blonde moved fast. Speed was not an uncommon trait among decent fighters who didn’t have the advantage of bulk, but Xena had set herself the task of noticing anything strange, and this girl was going faster than any fully human being she had ever seen. Where Xena had to be careful, watch out for signs of movement from the creatures—and it seemed, former villagers—they had found, her companion was able to match them without taking a second to determine their position, or prepare for their attack. 

She swung as if she were one of the creatures herself. 

Yet she fought them with her, and together they’d reduced them to dust. Convenient consequence of dying, this not leaving a body; she reconsidered this thought as the grit settled on, and under, her clothes. Xena tried to wipe some of it off, before deciding to leave that for later. It was not unlike that time she and Gabrielle had faced the sand lions south of Egypt. 

The memory stayed in the back of her mind as she saw the girl watching her. 

“Wreaks havoc on the leather, doesn’t it? Not that I’ve seen people have many more options in this place.” She waved at the trees, and presumably the village beyond them.

Xena ignored the attempt at glibness. “What are you?” She made no move to attack, but let her eyes speak for themselves as she looked directly into the other woman’s face. 

As before, it remained composed, unaffronted by the question, though the words which accompanied it played at offense. “That’s a bit rude. I’m more of a who. You ask about me, but not about what we just saw and fought? Those things are definitely freakier. I’m just the girl who kills them.” She shrugged. “Destiny, and so forth.”

The confidence, then, of someone chosen by a god, or at least thought they were. “Destiny isn’t a power,” Xena said flatly. “Regardless of where your abilities come from. It’s something you make.” 

The girl’s face changed to something sadder, more solemn. “I’d like to think so. In the spirit of that,” she added, “my name is Buffy. And you are...” She looked at her expectantly. 

“Xena.” No recognition appeared in her eyes. She really wasn’t from around here, Xena realized, nor anywhere nearby. 

Gabrielle would want to know more about this person, she thought, and it’d be some time before they were reunited. 

It wouldn’t hurt to sit down and talk. Especially if, as it seemed, Buffy would prefer to do most of the talking. 

She liked to do a bit more than that, it turned out. A little rough, for a girl who looked like she did; it had been a long time since Xena was the one pinned to the ground. Buffy smiled, that blonde hair falling over her shoulders. Under the dust, her small chest gleamed in the moon, nipples pink. Well, if anything was going to make the prospect of dealing with that a little less repulsive…


End file.
